Journal of a Minnesota Angler

My family and I headed to my in-laws’ cabin on the Gunflint Trail for July 4th week. It was a working vacation as we were helping my father-in-law put a new roof on his cabin as well as get some R&R.

We drove up casually Monday afternoon and arrived a bit after 7pm. The rest of the family arrived the day before including my brother-in-law, George. Clouds were looming when we got there so we listened intently to the radio for a weather report to see if Ken, George, and I could hit the water.

Unfortunately, we didn’t just get the weather, we heard the beep-beep-beep of a severe weather warning from the National Weather Service. There was a big storm headed our way and it was going to be on our heads within a half hour. Since it was still rather calm where we were, George and I decided to cast from the dock.

If you know my history of fishing off Ken’s dock, you know that the only tugs I’ve gotten while standing on those boards is from snagging the rocky bottom. The only proof I have of fish in the area is when my son almost caught a fish off the dock last year. Aside from that, there have been stories of bass here and there, but they were few and far between.

Interestingly enough, just a few days before I arrived, a new story was formed when Ken watched a guy in a canoe catch a nice bass just yards from where he stood. I had my doubts that George and I would see any action, but with a storm looming, some fishing was better than no fishing.

I pulled out my baitcaster to get some practice with it and started with a wacky rigged watermelon worm. In only a few casts, I promptly got it caught in a rock. With Ken occupied elsewhere, George and I loosened the pontoon tied to the end of the dock and went to retrieve it.

When we got everything back to where we started, I decided to switch to a watermelon
Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw. It was more of a crankbait that could avoid the rocks and the lure that my son used last year to get his hit.

During the rucus, Ken came down to see why the pontoon was untied. He stuck around to watch us cast and was telling us the story how the canoe-er caught the bass. Just as he got to the point of saying the canoe-er pulled the fish out of the water, I felt a bump and instinctively set the hook. This is what I pulled out of the water:

Species: Smallmouth bass
Size: 13″
Lure used: Watermelon Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw

It was a nice 13-incher.

A couple of casts later, I got another hit, but set the hook too soon and missed it. I only got a few more casts in before it started to rain and we all headed in.

The smallie was a nice start to the week and a foreshadowing of things to come.

Week tally: Smallmouth bass: 1